Braves meet with Rainbow/PUSH officials
in [Atlanta Braves]
|
From: Nicholas Beaudrot on 9 May 2007 11:03 On May 9, 6:48 am, shawn <nanoflo...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > the makeup of the team will change. I doubt it will unless an African > American player that is better than the current players becomes > available at a reasonable price. One thing that often is noted here is that while black stars and even full-time starters do just fine salary and playing-time wise, the demographics of MLB "roster filler" are much whiter than the league as a whole. This isn't a Braves-specific phenomenon of course. I wonder if European football leagues have similar problems ... Cheers, Nicholas
From: bklyntom on 9 May 2007 13:45 Jesse Jackson's Rainbow-PUSH Coalition = Extortionists Tom
From: TenderRage on 10 May 2007 00:02 On May 8, 9:41?pm, rodneyk...(a)home.net (Rodney K.) wrote: > http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2007/05/07/05... > > Braves meet with Rainbow/PUSH officials > > By CARROLL ROGERS > The Atlanta Journal-Constitution > > Published on: 05/07/07 > > Upset over the lack of African-Americans on the Braves roster, members > of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow-PUSH Coalition asked for a meeting with > team officials. They got one Monday. > > Joe Beasley, Southern Regional Director for the Rainbow/PUSH > Coalition, said he and Dexter Clinkscale, the director of sports for > the organization, met Monday morning for nearly two hours with Braves > general manager John Schuerholz, assistant general manager Frank Wren > and three other Braves officials. > > "The team slipped ... down to [no African-Americans]; it wasn?t > something that just happened," Beasley said Monday afternoon. "I think > it was a lack of diligence on the part of the Braves to recruit > African-American players. There's not diminished enthusiasm for > African-Americans playing baseball. It's simply the opportunity hasn't > presented itself." > > Schuerholz acknowledged the meeting Monday but declined further > comment, saying in a statement: "We had a meeting with Mr. Beasley and > another member of his organization this morning and discussed a > variety of topics." > > Less than 10 percent of major league players are African-Americans. In > a recent interview on the subject, Schuerholz said: "You go to where > the talent leads you. Finding major league-caliber baseball players is > far too difficult if you try to narrow your criteria down to > demographics." > > Countered Beasley, "As I expected, [Schuerholz?s] idea is the bottom > line: I'll put the best 40 men I can get wherever I can get them from > on the field, and that's fair. But the fact of the matter is if they > put resources into recruiting here in the United States, and more > specifically here in Atlanta, there are talented players here." > > The issue was brought to the attention of the Rainbow-PUSH Coalition > during the 60th anniversary celebration of Jackie Robinson breaking > the color barrier. The Braves and Houston Astros did not have any > African-American players on their 25-man rosters at the time. The > Braves' total grew with the promotion of left fielder Willie Harris, > who is from Robinson?s hometown of Cairo. > > "You slipped down to nothing, now you've got one, we expect it to > start going up higher," Beasley said was the sentiment he voiced in > the meeting. "We want to see incrementally it move back up, rather > than moving down. There was an openness on [Schuerholz's] part to talk > and to be in dialogue and hopefully be in partnership in trying to > make sure that it happens. He was very nice, a gentleman. I'm going to > hold him to his word to work with us and move those numbers back up to > a respectable level." So is this a question of affirmative action in sports? When it was mentioned that the number of "African Americas" in baseball is at about 10% did anyone ever consider what kind of training is available in the typical urban settings for this sport as compared to basketball? Where do most pro baseball players come from and when does their training begin on average? It isn't a question of hiring now it's a question of looking towards the future to see how more athletes can come from more diverse backgrounds. Doe this have anything to do with the fact that these 2 teams are deeply Southern and have a perspective that then reflects what kind of mentality? Maybe there's something to this....
From: Bill on 10 May 2007 00:50 TimV wrote: > > Recruiting? Are they aware of the way that baseball works? They don't participate in Career Days at the local high schools?? Shame on them. BTW what happened to Andruw Jones? He doesn't count as African-American? Bill
From: The Ghost of General Lee on 10 May 2007 02:02
On Thu, 10 May 2007 04:50:48 GMT, Bill <billrubin(a)prodigy.net> wrote: >TimV wrote: >> >> Recruiting? Are they aware of the way that baseball works? > >They don't participate in Career Days at the local high >schools?? Shame on them. > >BTW what happened to Andruw Jones? He doesn't count as >African-American? My guess is no, because he is from Curosau. And Edgar Renteria is Columbian, and Rafael Soriano is from the Dominican Republic. |